It’s got razor-sharp blades, but you can’t prune with it.
It has a powerful motor, but won’t rototill your soil.
It makes vegetables taste delicious but you can’t fertilize with it.
It collects garden waste, but doesn’t make compost.

Any guesses??

It’s a juicer.

Last week, my husband and I were looking for something interesting to watch on TV so we scrolled through the list of new documentaries available on our Apple TV system. I came across something called “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.”

Now, granted this doesn’t sound like the most uplifting thing to watch, but it did at least sound intriguing. I played the trailer[1].

This film turned out to be one of the most inspirational things I’ve ever seen. It’s the story of an Australian bloke names Joe Cross, who realizes that he’s let his body degenerate through poor diet and lack of exercise to the point of no return. He’s developed an auto-immune disease called chronic urticaria and is on powerful and dangerous drugs to control it.

Joe has made the decision to turn his life around and goes on a fresh-juice fast for 60 days. During this time, he comes to the U.S. to film his journey and inspire others along the way. I won’t give away all of the movie, but Joe meets a man who, ironically, has the same auto-immune disease and is morbidly obese.

So Joe inspired me to get a juicer.

Though I’m not what most would consider fat, I have put on enough pounds in the past year that I can’t wear the clothes that I wore this time last year. This is not a good thing for a woman over 40. I am beyond my comfort zone.

And I, too, have an auto-immune disease – rheumatoid arthritis – and am on powerful and dangerous drugs.

Maybe a juice fast is just what I need to turn things around. Besides, I have way more veggies in my garden than I can cook and consume, and juicing them seems like a perfect, healthy alternative.

I’m starting off slowly so that I can get used to using the juicer and try different recipes to see what I like and what I just won’t be able to stomach. So far, most everything I’ve tried has been pretty darned good.

One of my favorites is a blend of tomatoes, celery and green pepper. I add a little salt and pepper and a dash of hot sauce. It’s like a Bloody Mary without the vodka.

One mistake I made was adding a zucchini to my last batch, which also had tomato and green pepper and a little chard. The zucchini … not a good idea. The juice had a bitter aftertaste. Yuck. I ended up pouring most of it down the drain. What a waste of good veggies.

One of the tastiest was made with fresh beets, apples and carrots. Of course, fresh fruit juice is by far the most delicious juice you will ever drink, but if you just did the fruit and no veggies, you would get way too much sugar and miss out on the micronutrients in the leafy greens.

I am also using the juicer to make fresh grape jelly and, of course, fresh grape jelly starts with fresh grape juice. Getting pure juice out of tons of grapes is an arduous task, even with a juicer, but the end result is well worth the effort.

Last night I put about 10 cups of whole grapes through the juicer and ended up with about a quart of grape juice, and a big mess. (Yes, juicing is very messy) And, I’ve still got about 25 cups of grapes to go through. (In my next post I will continue with the jelly-making and walk you through the process.)

In the meantime, I’d like to hear from you. If anyone has tried juicing or seen the Joe Cross film and been inspired, please write to me, in the comments field or at jlovell@denverpost.com

I would love any great juice recipes — or just moral support for my own little journey.